CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure is generally directed to systems and methods for use in enabling
and providing digital identities associated with mobile devices and, in particular,
to systems and methods for use in verifying biometric templates in mobile devices,
based on physical documents associated with users and/or their biometrics, against
repositories of biometric data, whereby when the biometric templates are verified
the digital identities are provisioned to the mobile devices for subsequent use. The
present disclosure also relates to systems and methods for use in managing access
to digital identities associated with mobile devices, and in authenticating users
associated with such digital identities apart from mobile applications associated
with their mobile devices, when identification data associated with the users is changed.
BACKGROUND
[0003] This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which
is not necessarily prior art.
[0004] People are known to be associated with identities. The identities are generally specific
to the people and often include their names, government-based identifiers (
e.g., Aadaar numbers, social security numbers, etc.), mailing addresses, phone numbers,
email addresses, etc. And, the identities of the people are often verified, by relying
parties, through one or more physical documents, such as, for example, driver's licenses,
government issued cards or documents (
e.g., birth certificates, etc.), utility bills, etc. In addition, the identities of the
people may further be provided in the form of digital identities, which include network
or Internet equivalents to physical documents and/or identities of the people for
identification in connection with network transactions. In connection therewith, when
people apply for accounts, they are often required, by issuers of the accounts, to
present proof of their identity, which may be provided through one or more such physical
documents or via the digital identities. Account issuers or other parties (
i.e., the relying parties) may then rely on the identities, evidenced by the physical documents
and/or the digital identities, to interact with the people as being the people they
are supposed to be and/or conduct business therewith.
[0006] Embodiments of the present disclosure are defined by appended claims.
DRAWINGS
[0007] The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments
and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the
present disclosure.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system of the present disclosure suitable for use
in enabling digital identities (e.g., biometric identities, etc.) in connection with mobile devices so that the digital
identities may be subsequently provided to relying parties via the mobile devices,
and also suitable for use in managing access to the digital identities;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing device that may be used in the exemplary
system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method, which may be implemented in connection with
the system of FIG. 1, for use in enabling and providing a digital identity associated
with a mobile device through verification of at least one physical document and/or
biometric against a repository;
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary method, which may be implemented in connection with
the system of FIG. 1, for use in authenticating the user in connection with a payment
application; and
FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method, which may be implemented in connection with
the system of FIG. 1, for use in managing access to a digital identity for a user
associated with a mobile device, when data associated with the user is changed.
[0008] Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several
views of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0009] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying
drawings. The description and specific examples included herein are intended for purposes
of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
[0010] When users apply for accounts, such as, for example, banking accounts, investment
accounts, payment accounts, etc., the users are often required to provide proof of
their identities in connection with applying for the accounts. Once such proof is
presented, and verified, the parties offering the accounts proceed to issue the accounts
to the users, where the accounts then reflect certain attributes of the users' identities.
Physical documents representing the users' identities as well as digital identities
of the users may be relied upon for these purposes. From time to time, data associated
with the users' identities may change or be changed in connection with providing a
digital identity. While such changes do occur and are often legitimate, some changes
may be associated with unauthorized access and/or fraudulent use of the users' identities.
[0011] With that said, in one aspect of the present disclosure, the systems and methods
herein uniquely provide for binding of digital identities to mobile devices and/or
mobile applications included therein. In particular herein, a mobile application is
configured to capture an image of a physical document (
e.g., a government ID card, etc.) associated with a user and further capture a biometric
of the user (
e.g., a fingerprint, a facial image, a voice sample, a palm print, an iris scan, etc.).
When the biometric includes an image of the user, such image of the user is then extracted
from the image of the physical document, and converted to a biometric template. The
mobile application then compares the biometric template to the captured biometric.
When a match is determined, the mobile application transmits a message including the
image of the physical document and the biometric template to an identification provider,
which verifies the biometric template against a repository of biometrics. When verified,
an activation code is then transmitted to the identification provider and/or the mobile
application. In response to at least the activation code, the mobile application binds
the biometric template of the user into the mobile device and/or the mobile application
in the mobile device, thereby activating and/or enabling the mobile application to
subsequently provide a digital identity associated with the user to one or more relying
parties (
e.g., issuers of accounts, other parties that may rely on verifying identities of users
before taking actions, etc.).
[0012] In another aspect of the present disclosure, the systems and methods herein uniquely
provide for additional authentication of a user, at a mobile application (
e.g., a banking application, a digital wallet application, other applications, etc.), through
another institution (
e.g., a banking institution, etc.), when a change in data associated with the user and
his/her digital identity at the mobile application is identified. In particular, when
a user changes data associated with his/her identity (
e.g., a change in address, etc.), the change is noted and/or identified upon the user attempting
to access his/her corresponding mobile application (with which the digital identity
is associated). In turn, in response to the access attempt, the mobile application
directs the user to an access interface (
e.g., a login interface, etc.) associated with another institution, directly or in combination
with seeking biometric authentication of the user. When the user is authenticated
by the other institution, the user is returned to the mobile application and permitted
to access the mobile application. In this manner, prior to accessing the mobile application
(and specifically, prior to accessing function(s) and/or operation(s) thereof), the
user is separately authenticated by another party who has a relationship with the
user. As such, the access to the mobile application is granted only after the further
authentication of the user by the other party, thereby providing enhanced fraud protection
and/or protection from unauthorized access to the mobile application. In addition,
reliance on the other party permits the mobile application and/or the platform associated
therewith to avoid, for example, a need to provide one-time tokens or one-time passwords
to the user, which have to be separately solicited and verified, to facilitate access
to his/her mobile application after recognizing a change in the user's identity.
[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 in which one or more aspects of the present
disclosure may be implemented. Although the system 100 is presented in one arrangement,
other embodiments may include the parts of the system 100 (or other parts) arranged
otherwise depending on, for example, relationships between users and identification
providers and/or third parties in the system 100, particular types of devices utilized
with digital identities, particular mobile applications associated with the users,
relationships between users and relying parties in the systems 100, privacy requirements,
etc.
[0014] The system 100 generally includes an identification provider (IDP) 102, a repository
104, a communication device 106 including a mobile application 108, a mobile application
platform 120 associated with the mobile application 108, and a banking institution
122, each of which is coupled to one or more networks to provide communication therebetween.
The network(s) is/are indicated generally by arrowed lines in FIG. 1, and each may
include one or more of, without limitation, a local area network (LAN), a wide area
network (WAN) (
e.g., the Internet, etc.), a mobile network, a virtual network, and/or another suitable
public and/or private network capable of supporting communication among two or more
of the parts illustrated in FIG. 1, or any combination thereof.
[0015] The IDP 102 of the system 100 generally is associated with forming and/or managing
digital identities associated with users (
e.g., for user 110, etc.). In connection therewith, the IDP 102 may participate in providing
the digital identity for the user 110 to one or more relying parties, as required.
In FIG. 1, the IDP 102 is illustrated as a standalone service and/or device of the
system 100. However, the IDP 102 may additionally, or alternatively, be incorporated
in whole or in part with another party in the system 100, such as, for example, a
payment network, a business entity, or a banking institution, etc. Specifically, for
example, the IDP 102 may be incorporated, in whole or in part, into the Mastercard®
payment network and configured to operate as described herein to provide one or more
identity-based services to users via and/or in association with the Mastercard® payment
network. It should be appreciated that while the IDP 102 is illustrated as a single
entity and/or computing device in FIG. 1, the IDP 102, may be segregated into multiple
different entities and/or computing devices in other embodiments, with data being
exchanged therebetween, so that the IDP 102, overall, is still configured to operate
as described herein.
[0016] The repository 104 of the system 100 includes a data structure, in which one or more
biometric references for each of multiple users (including the user 110) is/are stored.
The repository 104, in this exemplary embodiment, is associated with one or more government
entities, services and/or programs, etc., whereby the repository 104 includes biometric
references for multiple users, and where the biometric references are linked to identification
numbers of the users (
e.g., government-issued numbers such as social security numbers, Aadhaar numbers, etc.).
In one example, the repository 104 includes the Central Identities Data Repository
(CIDR) associated with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), etc.
It should be understood that the repository 104 may include more or less data related
to the users, whereby the biometric references may be linked to the other data related
to the users (
e.g., the users' names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, etc.), or not. Apart from one
or more government entities, the repository 104 may also, or alternatively, be included
in and/or associated with one or more private entities, such as, for example, a banking
institution, a payment network, etc., while substantially remaining consistent with
the description herein.
[0017] The mobile application platform 120 of the system 100 generally is configured to
provide backend support for the mobile application 108, other applications, and/or
various functions and/or operations provided thereby. For example, the platform 120
may be configured to form, register, and/or manage digital identities associated with
users (
e.g., for user 110, etc.) in association with the mobile application 108, where the digital
identities involve a government ID, etc. In this manner, the platform 120 may be associated
with the IDP 102. The platform 120 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as a standalone service
and/or device of the system 100. However, the platform 120 may additionally, or alternatively,
be incorporated in whole or in part with another entity or party in the system 100,
such as, for example, a payment network, a business entity, or a banking institution
(
e.g., banking institution 122, etc.), etc. Specifically, for example, the platform 120
may be incorporated, in whole or in part, into the Mastercard® payment network and
configured to operate as described herein to provide one or more identity-based services
to users via and/or in association with the Mastercard® payment network and the mobile
application 108 (where the mobile application 108 may then also be associated with
and/or provided by the Mastercard® payment network (
e.g., where the mobile application 108 may be associated with the Masterpass digital wallet,
etc.)). It should be appreciated that the mobile application platform 120 may yet
another different entity, whereby the application 108 is consistent with the description
herein, but is further associated with additional functionalities (e.g., unrelated
to digital identities and/or banking, etc.)
[0018] It should be appreciated that while the mobile application platform 120 is illustrated
as a single entity and/or computing device in FIG. 1, the platform 120 may be segregated
into multiple different entities and/or computing devices in other embodiments, with
data being exchanged therebetween. However, even in such embodiments, the mobile application
platform 120, overall, is still generally configured to operate as described herein.
It should also be appreciated that the mobile application 108, and by extension the
mobile application platform 120, may relate to various different subject matter, and
is not necessarily limited to payment applications and/or digital wallets.
[0019] As further shown in FIG. 1, the banking institution 122 of the system 100 includes
a company, a business or another entity through which the user 110 is able to transfer,
hold and/or manage financials, etc. With that said, the banking institution 122, in
general, provides or issues an account to the user 110, for example, through which
the user 110 is able to hold funds, transfers funds to/from other accounts, etc. That
said, the account need not be a financial or payment account.
[0020] In addition, the banking institution 122 is associated with a network-based application
(
e.g., a website, mobile application, etc.) available to the user 110, for example, via
a computing device, and through which the user 110 is able to access his/her account
to, for example, view balances, transfer funds, pay bills, and perform other suitable
tasks associated with the banking institution 122, etc. The network-based application
is hosted by the banking institution 122 (at a computing device 200 included therein)
(or by another computing device on behalf of the banking institution 122). The network-based
application is configured to require authentication of the user 110, prior to permitting
such access and/or functionality. In connection therewith, the authentication may
rely on knowledge, ownership and/or inherent factors associated with the user 110,
such as, for examples, usernames, passwords, biometrics (
e.g., fingerprints, retinal patterns, palm prints, etc.), personal identification numbers
(PINs), keys, security tokens, cards, challenge questions/responses, etc. In this
example, only after the user 110 is authenticated to the network-based application,
through one or more such factors, is the user 110 then permitted to utilize in one
way, or another, the network-based application. With that said, the network-based
application associated with the banking institution 122 may be associated with the
mobile application 108, or may be separate therefrom.
[0021] While the banking institution 122 is specifically described as a banking institution
in this example embodiment, other types of institutions may be included in other system
embodiments that are unrelated to banking services. For example, the institution 122
may include any other type of institution that authenticates users associated with
products and/or services offered by the institution (
e.g., insurance, telecommunications, entertainment, investments, education, health services,
email/communication, etc.). As such, the institution may include a business, a merchant,
a retailer, a service provider (
e.g., a healthcare provider, etc.), or another entity (which is not a banking institution)
that interacts with users, whereby user authentication is relied upon for granting
access to users to one or more accounts through network-based applications (
e.g., websites, mobile applications, etc.) associated with the institution (
e.g., purchase accounts, email accounts, health accounts, insurance accounts, telecommunication
accounts, entertainment accounts, investment accounts, etc.).
[0022] With continued reference to FIG. 1, the communication device 106 of the system 100
includes the mobile application 108 (or mobile app), which is configured to interact
with the IDP 102 and the platform 120. The mobile application 108 itself may include
any application providing a variety of functions, which may be associated or unassociated
with a digital identity, the repository 104, etc. (
e.g., including, for example, the network-based application provided by the banking institution
122, etc.). The mobile application 108 may also relate specifically to digital identification,
or it may relate and/or be integrated with one or more other services and/or functions
(
e.g., mobile banking, virtual wallets, utilities, medical records, user accounts, email,
etc.), or not. The mobile application 108 may be provided by, without limitation,
the banking institution 122, a services provider (
e.g., a utility provider, a medical provider, etc.), etc.
[0023] What's more, in this exemplary embodiment, the mobile application 108 further includes
a software development kit (SDK) 112. The SDK 112 is provided by and/or associated
with the IDP 102 and/or the platform 120 and configures the communication device 106
and the mobile application 108 to interact with the IDP 102 and the platform 120,
as it relates to user authentication generally, as described herein. As an example,
the mobile application 108 may be associated with the UIDAI, which as described above
is associated with the repository 104 (and is a repository of biometrics associated
with users), and the SDK 112 may be associated with the IDP 102 and/or the platform
120, which, as described above, may be provided in whole or in part in the Mastercard®
payment network. As another example, the mobile application 108 may be associated
with a virtual wallet (
e.g., the Masterpass digital wallet from Mastercard®, etc.), including a library of reference
biometrics of users associated therewith. As still another example, the SDK 112 may
be provided in connection with and/or associated with a government entity, such as,
for example, the UIDAI, which as described above is then associated with the repository
104. In general, the SDK 112 is provided to a developer of the application 108 (from
a different entity (
e.g., the IDP 102, the platform 120, etc.) for inclusion in the mobile application 108
to provide the operation described herein. The SDK 112 includes a public key for and/or
certificate when included in the mobile application 108, compiled, downloaded to the
communication device 106, and/or activated.
[0024] The communication device 106 is associated with the user 110 who, in turn, is associated
with an identity. The identity of the user 110 is evidenced by one or more physical
documents, such as physical document 114 (shown as a government identification card
issued by a state, regional, or federal government). With that said, it should be
appreciated that additional and/or other physical documents for the user 110 may be
included in the system 100 and relied upon herein, such as, for example, a passport,
a government issued ID, a social security card, a health insurance card, a bank statement,
an employee ID, a utility bill, etc., generally, which includes a biometric, such
as a facial image for the user 110, etc. The physical document 114 (and other physical
documents potentially included in the system 100) then includes details of the user
110 and/or of the identity of the user 110, which distinguishes the user 110, alone
or in combination, from one or more other users. The details may include the user's
name, mailing address, birthdate, contact information (
e.g., a phone number, an email address, etc.), government identifiers/numbers, gender,
country of origin, height, eye color, weight, etc.
[0025] Further in the system 100, the communication device 106 includes a pay application
(or Pay App) 116, which also includes an SDK 118. The pay application 116 configures
(and enables) the communication device 106 to operate as (and to be used as) a payment
device, whereby in connection with a purchase transaction the communication device
106 is configured to provide payment account credentials for a payment account issued
to the user 110. In this manner, the pay application 116 may be considered and/or
may be consistent with a virtual wallet and/or an e-wallet application. That said,
the SDK 118 is associated with and/or provided by the banking institution 122 (or
another banking institution and/or by a payment network) (associated with the payment
account to be used) to configure the communication device 106 to interact therewith,
for example, when using the pay application 116, etc. In at least one embodiment,
the IDP 102 and the platform 120 are included and/or associated with a payment network,
and the pay application 116 is supported by the same payment network, whereby each
of the SDK 112 and the SDK 118 is provided by the single payment network to configure
the communication device 106 to interact therewith, as described herein and illustrated
in the system 100 of FIG. 1.
[0026] While only one identification provider 102, one repository 104, one communication
device 106, one mobile application 108, one user 110, one platform 120, and one banking
institution 122 are illustrated in the system 100, it should be appreciated that additional
ones of these parts may be included in other system embodiments. What's more, banking
institution(s) and/or a payment network may include one or more of the parts illustrated
in the system 100 of FIG. 1.
[0027] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary computing device 200 that can be used in the system
100 of FIG. 1. The computing device 200 may include, for example, one or more servers,
workstations, personal computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc. In addition,
the computing device 200 may include a single computing device, or it may include
multiple computing devices located in close proximity or distributed over a geographic
region, so long as the computing devices are specifically configured to function as
described herein. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, each of the IDP 102, the
repository 104, the mobile application platform 120, and the banking institution 122
is illustrated as including, or being implemented in, computing device 200, coupled
to (and in communication with) one or more of the networks. In addition, the communication
device 106 is also considered a computing device generally consistent with computing
device 200 for purposes of the description herein. However, the system 100 should
not be considered to be limited to the computing device 200, as described below, as
different computing devices and/or arrangements of computing devices may be used in
other embodiments. In addition, different components and/or arrangements of components
may be used in other computing devices.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 2, the exemplary computing device 200 includes a processor 202
and a memory 204 coupled to (and in communication with) the processor 202. The processor
202 may include one or more processing units (
e.g., in a multi-core configuration, etc.). For example, the processor 202 may include,
without limitation, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, a reduced
instruction set computer (RISC) processor, an application specific integrated circuit
(ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), a gate array, and/or any other circuit
or processor capable of the functions described herein.
[0029] The memory 204, as described herein, is one or more devices that permit data, instructions,
etc., to be stored therein and retrieved therefrom. The memory 204 may include one
or more computer-readable storage media, such as, without limitation, dynamic random
access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read only memory (ROM),
erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), solid state devices, flash drives,
CD-ROMs, thumb drives, floppy disks, tapes, hard disks, and/or any other type of volatile
or nonvolatile physical or tangible computer-readable media. The memory 204 may be
configured to store, without limitation, identity details and data related to identities
of users, digital identities, certificates, key pairs, captured biometrics, reference
biometrics, activation codes, authentication credentials, and/or other types of data
(and/or data structures) suitable for use as described herein. Furthermore, in various
embodiments, computer-executable instructions (
e.g., in the form of the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112, or the pay application
116 and/or the SDK 118, etc.) may be stored in the memory 204 for execution by the
processor 202 to cause the processor 202 to perform one or more of the functions described
herein, such that the memory 204 is a physical, tangible, and non-transitory computer
readable storage media. Such instructions often improve the efficiencies and/or performance
of the processor 202 and/or other computer system components configured to perform
one or more of the various operations herein. It should be appreciated that the memory
204 may include a variety of different memories, each implemented in one or more of
the functions or processes described herein.
[0030] In the exemplary embodiment, the computing device 200 also includes a presentation
unit 206 that is coupled to (and is in communication with) the processor 202 (however,
it should be appreciated that the computing device 200 could include output devices
other than the presentation unit 206, etc.). The presentation unit 206 outputs information,
visually or audibly, for example, to a user of the computing device 200 (
e.g., prompts to the user 110 at the communication device 106 to capture a biometric, etc.),
etc. And various interfaces (
e.g., as defined by the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112, or the pay application
116 and/or the SDK 118, etc.) (
e.g., including instructions to capture an image of a document, etc.) may be displayed
at computing device 200, and in particular at presentation unit 206, to display certain
information in connection therewith. The presentation unit 206 may include, without
limitation, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display,
an organic LED (OLED) display, an "electronic ink" display, speakers, etc. In some
embodiments, the presentation unit 206 may include multiple devices.
[0031] In addition, the computing device 200 includes an input device 208 that receives
inputs from the user (
i.e., user inputs) of the computing device 200 such as, for example, images of documents,
biometrics, etc., in response to prompts from the mobile application 108 (and/or the
SDK 112, or the pay application 116 and/or the SDK 118, etc.), as further described
below. The input device 208 may include a single input device or multiple input devices.
The input device 208 is coupled to (and is in communication with) the processor 202
and may include, for example, one or more of a keyboard, a pointing device, a mouse,
a stylus, a camera, a touch sensitive panel (
e.g., a touch pad or a touch screen, etc.), another computing device, and/or an audio input
device. In various exemplary embodiments, a touch screen, such as that included in
a tablet, a smartphone, or similar device, may behave as both the presentation unit
206 and an input device 208.
[0032] Further, the illustrated computing device 200 also includes a network interface 210
coupled to (and in communication with) the processor 202 and the memory 204. The network
interface 210 may include, without limitation, a wired network adapter, a wireless
network adapter (
e.g., an NFC adapter, a Bluetooth™ adapter, etc.), a mobile network adapter, or other device
capable of communicating to one or more different ones of the networks herein and/or
with other devices described herein. Further, in some exemplary embodiments, the computing
device 200 may include the processor 202 and one or more network interfaces incorporated
into or with the processor 202.
[0033] Referring again to FIG. 1, in use of the system 100, the user 110 initially downloads
and installs the mobile application 108 to the communication device 106. Upon installation,
the communication device 106 is configured, by the mobile application 108 and/or the
SDK 112, to interact with the IDP 102, as described below, or separately to notify
the IDP 102 of the potential registration of the user 110 and/or the mobile application
108. In response, the IDP 102 is configured to issue a registration challenge, which
includes a random cryptographic challenge (
e.g., a randomly generated number, etc.), to the mobile application 108, immediately or
within a duration of the notification from the communication device 106. The random
cryptographic challenge, in this example, provides a limited use number, which inhibits
an intermediary, who intercepts the challenge (for fraudulent or unauthorized purposes),
from being able to use the challenge in connection with one or more registration processes.
[0034] When the user 110 decides to register with the IDP 102, the communication device
106 is configured, again by the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112, to prompt
the user 110 to present the physical document 114 to the communication device 106
and then to capture an image of the physical document 114. In connection therewith,
the communication device 106 is configured to check integrity of the physical document
114 and/or the captured image of the physical document (
e.g., to detect altered physical documents (
e.g., replacing a facial image of the document holder with a facial image of a fraudster,
etc.), etc.). Next, the communication device 106 is configured, by the mobile application
108 and/or the SDK 112, to prompt the user 110 to present a biometric to the communication
device 106. The biometric may include any biometric that is included in the physical
document 114, including, for example, a facial image, an iris scan, a fingerprint,
or a combination thereof, etc. In turn, the communication device 106 is configured,
by the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112, to capture the biometric (or, potentially,
multiple biometrics) from the user 110. In the meantime, or before or after, the communication
device 106 is configured, by the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112, to extract
an image of the user 110 or other biometric from the captured image of the physical
document 114 and to convert the same to a biometric template. Finally in this process,
the communication device 106 is configured, by the mobile application 108 and/or the
SDK 112, to compare the biometric template (as generated based on the captured image
of the physical document 114) to the captured biometric of the user 110, thereby verifying
the user 110 against the physical document 114.
[0035] If the captured biometric of the user 110 matches the biometric template (
e.g., within conventional thresholds, etc.), the communication device 106 is configured,
by the SDK 112, to generate a public-private key pair (including a public key and
a private key). Then, the communication device 106 is configured, by the mobile application
108 and/or the SDK 112, to transmit the public key to the IDP 102, alone or in combination
with one or more other messages, while the private key is maintained at the mobile
application 108.
[0036] Thereafter, the communication device 106 is configured, by the mobile application
108 and/or the SDK 112, to compile a message including the image of the physical document
114 and the biometric template, encrypt the message with a public key included in
the SDK 112 and known to the IDP 102 (thereby providing additional encryption in addition
to transport layer security (TLS) between the communication device 106 and the IDP
102), and then transmit the encrypted message to the IDP 102. Upon receipt, the IDP
102 is configured to decrypt the message, using its private key, and to transmit the
message to the repository 104 (thereby requesting the repository 104 to verify the
biometric template against a biometric reference included in the repository 104).
In response, the repository 104 is configured to retrieve a biometric reference for
the user 110, from memory 204 of the repository 104, based on an identification number
associated with the user 110 and included in the message, or included in the image
of the physical document 114, or otherwise, and to compare the biometric reference
and biometric template referenced in the message.
[0037] When the comparison of the biometric reference and biometric template referenced
in the message indicates a match, the repository 104 is configured to respond to the
IDP 102 with an activation code for the mobile application 108 (which may be encrypted
with a private key of the repository 104, or not). The activation code may include,
for example, a one-time use activation code, a multi-use activation code, etc. In
general, the activation code is a signed result, which may be provided in any form
and which may include (or not include) various data. In one example, the activation
code or signed result may indicate personal identifying information (PII) about the
user 110, while in other examples, the signed result may include a description of
the type of authentication completed or an assertion required and/or request by the
mobile application 108 (or entity associated therewith), etc. The IDP 102 is configured,
upon receipt of the activation code, to transmit the activation code to the mobile
application 108. In connection therewith, the IDP 102 is configured to encrypt the
activation code, prior to transmitting an encrypted message (including the activation
code) to the mobile application 108, based on the public key for the communication
device 106. Also, the IDP 102 is configured to record or otherwise store the activation
code, or an indication thereof, in memory 204 therein, and to recognize the mobile
application 108 and/or the communication device 106 as registered, such that one or
more subsequent registration challenges from the IDP 102 are avoided or otherwise
not issued.
[0038] Finally, the communication device 106 is configured, by the mobile application 108
and/or the SDK 112, to receive the message from the IDP 102, to decrypt the message
based on its private key, to verify the message (or activation code included in the
message) based on a public key of the IDP 102 and/or the public key from the repository
104, and to cryptographically bind data representative of the mobile application 108,
user biometric (
e.g., the biometric template, etc.), and the communication device 106 into a token. In
particular, the token is compiled and specific to the communication device 106, the
mobile application 108, and the user 110 (via the biometric template), whereby it
is not usable with another device or application or user. Thereafter, the communication
device 106 is configured, by the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112, to securely
store the token in the memory 204 of the communication device 106, for example, in
a trusted execution environment (TEE) of the communication device 106, etc. Additionally,
it should be appreciated that in connection with storing the token, the mobile application
108 may further communicate with a backend of the mobile application 108 (
e.g., the platform 120, the banking institution 122, another entity, etc.) to send and/or
receive an activation code or other suitable code to further activate and/or register
the mobile application 108 in connection with the operations herein.
[0039] When the token is stored, the mobile application 108, and the communication device
106, more broadly, is enabled to provide a digital identity associated with the user
110 to one or more relying parties, for example, upon request and local authentication
of the user 110 (based on the biometric). That is, when authentication is required,
for the mobile application 108 or in connection with another application relying on
the mobile application 108, the presence of the token (and absence of a change to
the digital identity of the user 110) permits local authentication of the user 110,
using the biometric template included in the token, in place of biometric authentication
through and/or involving the repository 104.
[0040] When a change does exist to the digital identity of the user 110, the communication
device 106 is configured to either delete the token and repeat the operations described
above, or otherwise authenticate the user 110. As to the later, in connection with
use of the mobile application 108 by the user 110, the communication device is configured,
by the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112, to determine if any of the identity
data associated with the user 110 (and included in the digital identity at the communication
device 106) has changed (
e.g., since a prior access by the user 110 of the mobile application 108, etc.). In addition,
and regardless of existence of such a change, the communication device 106 is also
configured, by the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112, to solicit a biometric
or other login credential for the mobile application 108 from the user 110 and, upon
receipt of the biometric and/or login credential, to authenticate the user 110 (either
locally at the communication device 106 or remotely, for example, via the UIDAI; etc.)
(prior to operations below, in this embodiment, further and/or certain access to the
mobile application, etc.).
[0041] When the communication device 106 identifies and/or determines that no change exists
to any of the user's identity data (broadly, digital identity), and when the user
110 is authenticated, the communication device 106 is configured, by the mobile application
108 and/or the SDK 112, to provide access to the user 110 to the operations available
through the mobile application 108. For example, the mobile application 108 may be
employed by the user 110 to provide a digital identity to a relying party in connection
with a business transaction, opening of an account, attempting to gain access to a
place and/or mode of transportation, etc. Or, the mobile application 108 may be employed
by the user 110 to perform regular operations associated therewith (
e.g., to facilitate payment for a good/service where the mobile application includes a
virtual wallet application, etc.).
[0042] However, when the communication device 106 identifies and/or determines a change
to the user's identity data, the communication device 106 is configured, by the mobile
application 108 and/or the SDK 112, to further solicit an input from the user 110
of another institution for which the user 110 also has access (or login) credentials,
for example, the banking institution 122 (or other third party). In response, in the
exemplary embodiment, the user 110 selects the banking institution 122 (
e.g., from a pre-populated list of available selections based on a setup of the mobile
application 108 by the user 110, based on an instruction by the user 110 to access
the banking institution 122, etc.). Upon the selection or other user input indicative
of the banking institution 122, the communication device 106 is configured, by the
mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112, to direct the user 110 to an authentication
server (
e.g., the computing device 200, etc.) of the banking institution 122. In general, the communication
device 106 is configured, by the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112 (or the
OS of the communication device 106), to coordinate authentication of the user 110
with the authentication server of the banking institution 122 (
e.g., through exchange of login credentials, biometric, authorization codes, ID tokens,
access token, etc. In connection therewith, the communication device 106 is configured,
by the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112 (or the OS of the communication device
106), to call, direct or otherwise cause to be displayed an authentication interface
associated with, hosted by, or designated by the banking institution 122. The interface
may be called, for example, via an application programming interface (API) or otherwise
(
e.g., an openID connect API or similar call, etc.). In general, though, the authentication
interface provided by the banking institution 122 solicits access credentials for
the user 110 which correspond to a network-based application provided for/by the banking
institution (
e.g., for the user's account at the banking institution 122 via the banking institution's
bank account access website, etc.).
[0043] In response, the user 110 provides the access credentials to the authentication interface
and, thus, to the banking institution 122. And, in turn, the banking institution 122
(through its network-based application) is configured to authenticate the user 110
based on the provided access credentials and to notify the communication device 106
and/or mobile application 108 when the user 110 is authenticated (
e.g., via an authorization code, etc.). When the user 110 is successfully authenticated,
the user 110 is re-directed to the mobile application 108, in which the user 110 is
provided with access to the operations available through the mobile application 108,
for example, as described above. In connection therewith, the communication device
106 may be configured, by the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112 (or the OS
of the communication device 106), to verify authentication of the user (e.g., via
the authorization code, or related token, etc.) with the authentication server of
the banking institution 122, prior to grating access to the one or more services and/or
functions of the mobile application.
[0044] In another exemplary embodiment, a system may include at least one mobile communication
device and an identification provider computing device in communication with the at
least one mobile communication device and with a biometric repository. In this embodiment,
the identification provider computing device may be configured to: (a) receive a message
from the at least one mobile communication device, the message including an image
of a physical document and a biometric template for a user associated with the at
least one mobile communication device; (b) transmit the message, or part thereof,
to the biometric repository, thereby requesting the biometric repository to verify
the biometric template against a biometric reference for the user included in the
repository; and/or (c) transmit an activation code for a mobile application in the
at least one communication device, when the repository verifies the biometric template,
thereby permitting the mobile application in the at least one communication device
to bind the mobile application, the at least one mobile communications device, and
the biometric template for the user in association with a digital identity for the
user at the mobile communications device.
[0045] Further in this embodiment, the identification provider computing device may also
be configured to decrypt the message received from the at least one mobile communication
device using a private key stored in a memory of the identification provider computing
device, issue a registration challenge to the mobile application where the message
is from the at least one mobile communication device and is received in response to
the registration challenge; and/or record the activation code, or an indication of
the activation code, in the memory of the identification provider computing device
whereby one or more subsequent registration challenges are avoided.
[0046] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method 300 for use in providing biometric identities
in association with mobile devices, through verification of at least one physical
document and/or biometric against a repository. The exemplary method 300 is described
as implemented in the IDP 102, the repository 104, the communication device 106, the
mobile application 108, and/or SDK 112 of the system 100. Reference is also made to
the computing device 200. However, the methods herein should not be understood to
be limited to the system 100 or the computing device 200, as the methods may be implemented
in other systems and/or computing devices. Likewise, the systems and the computing
devices herein should not be understood to be limited to the exemplary method 300.
[0047] At the outset in the method 300, the user 110 downloads and installs, at 302, the
mobile application 108 to the communication device 106. Upon installation, the mobile
application 108 (alone or via the SDK 112) prompts, at 304, the user 110 to present
a physical document, and in particular in this example, the government ID card physical
document 114, to the communication device 106. In response, the user 110 presents,
at 306, the physical document 114 to the communication device 106, and specifically
in this example, to a camera input device 208 of the communication device 106. Thereafter,
the mobile application 108 automatically, or in response to an input from the user
110, captures an image of the physical document 114, at 308.
[0048] Upon capturing the image of the physical document 114, the mobile application 108
checks, at 310, the integrity of the image of the physical document 114. This is performed
locally at the communication device 106 in this embodiment, but may be performed remotely,
in whole or in part, in other embodiments. The integrity check is performed consistent
with conventional processes to determine if the document image includes a genuine
document, or if the image includes a potentially fraudulent and/or fake reproduction
of a genuine document (
e.g., a legitimate document with a different user's image taped, glued, or otherwise positioned
over an image included in the legitimate document, etc.). What's more, the integrity
check is also performed to make sure the physical document 114 is consistent with
the form of the alleged document, including, without limitation, a check that the
document 114 includes expected information in the expected locations and/or otherwise
meets requirements of the specific document. The degree of integrity checking required
and/or performed may be different in other embodiments depending, for example, on
the particular implementation of the method 300, types of potential relying parties,
etc.
[0049] Once the integrity of the document in the image is confirmed (or the image is determined
not to be fraudulent/fake), or prior, the IDP 102 issues, at 312, a registration challenge
for the user 110, which is provided to the mobile application 108. The registration
challenge may be a response, from the IDP 102, to the installation of the mobile application
108 or to other activities of the mobile application 108 in connection with capturing
and/or verifying a physical document for the user. For example, the mobile application
108 may notify the IDP 102, via the communication device 106, upon installation or
upon capture of the image of the physical document 114, whereupon the IDP 102 logs
the instance/installation in memory (
e.g., the memory 204, etc.), and responds by issuing the registration challenge. In at
least one embodiment, the IDP 102 omits the registration challenge, thereby relying
on the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112 to continue with the method 300.
[0050] In response to the registration challenge, or not, the mobile application 108 extracts
a facial image (
e.g., a photo of the user 110, etc.) from the captured image of the physical document 114
and coverts the extracted facial image to a biometric template, at 314. The biometric
template includes, for example, a numeric representation of the extracted facial image,
which is suitable for comparison to subsequently captured biometrics.
[0051] At 316, then, the mobile application 108 prompts the user 110 to present his/her
face to the communication device 106, so that an image of the user's face (broadly,
a biometric) may be captured. In response, the user 110 presents his/her face to camera
input device 208 of the communication device 106, at 318 (and selects a button to
indicate the same to the mobile application 108), and then, at 320, the mobile application
108, via the camera input device 208, captures an image of the user's face (broadly,
the biometric). In connection therewith, or separate therefrom, the mobile application
108 further, at 320, performs a liveness validation of the face of the user 110, such
that if a still photo of the user 110 would be detected (
i.e., if the captured image is of a photo of a person rather than an actual person), the
process would be halted (
e.g., by measuring temperature, curvature, texture, etc.). In this manner, the mobile application
108 inhibits a still photo or other representation of the user's face from being used
in lieu of the user's actual face (
e.g., the mobile application 108 confirms that the captured biometric is from a living
person and not from an image of the biometric, etc.). If the liveness validation succeeds,
the mobile application 108 then compares, at 322, the captured image of the user's
face (broadly, the biometric) to the biometric template generated from the physical
document 114.
[0052] When the captured image of the user's face matches the biometric template, the mobile
application 108 generates a public-private key pair, at 324, for use in communication
with the IDP 102. The mobile application 108 then transmits, at 326, the public key
to the IDP 102, alone or in combination with one or more other messages. The private
key from the key pair is also stored, by the mobile application 108 (or SDK 112) in
memory of the communication device 106 (
e.g., the memory 204, etc.). It should be understood that in addition to the generated
private key, the mobile application 108 (and specifically, the SDK 112) further includes
a public key from the IDP 102 to be used as described below.
[0053] Thereafter, the mobile application 108 compiles a message including the image of
the physical document 114 and the biometric template for the user 110, encrypts the
message with the public key of the IDP 102, and then transmits the message (
i.e., the encrypted message) to the IDP 102, at 328. It should be appreciated that a certificate
for the communication device 106 may also be included with and/or in the message,
where the certificate (including the mobile application's public key) is included,
potentially, along with identifying information associated with the communication
device 106, the user 110, and/or the mobile application 108 (including the SDK 112).
It should also be appreciated that the particular identifying information to be included
may vary depending on the particular implementation, a type of the IDP 102, a type
of the repository 104, etc. For example, the message may include an identification
number for the user 110 (
e.g., an Aahdaar number, etc.), which is either extracted from the image of the physical
document 114 (
e.g., where the physical document includes the identification number, etc.) or is solicited
from and provided by the user 110, whereby the biometric of the user 110 may be validated
at the repository 104. In any case, upon receipt of the message, the IDP 102 decrypts
the message with its private key and then transmits, at 330, the decrypted message
(or parts thereof) to the repository 104.
[0054] The repository 104, in turn, identifies a biometric reference for the user 110, based
on the identification number included in the message and/or in the image of the physical
document 114, and then compares, at 332, the identified biometric reference to the
biometric template referenced in the message. When the comparison indicates a match,
the repository 104 responds to the IDP 102, at 334, with an activation code or other
signed result (
e.g., assertion, confirmation, etc.) for the mobile application 108. Alternatively, when
there is a match, the repository 104 may merely confirm the match to the IDP 102,
whereupon it is the IDP 102 that issues the activation code for the mobile application
108. In either event, the IDP 102 transmits the activation code to the mobile application
108, at 336. In one example, the IDP 102 may encrypt the activation code (or a message
including the activation code) based on the public key of the mobile application 108,
and transmit the encrypted message to the mobile application 108. In addition, the
IDP 102 records or otherwise stores the activation code, or an indication thereof,
in memory (
e.g., the memory 204, etc.), whereby one or more subsequent registration challenges from
the IDP 102 to the mobile application 108 are avoided or otherwise not issued at 312,
for subsequent interactions therebetween.
[0055] Finally in the method 300, the mobile application 108 receives the message from the
IDP 102 and decrypts the message based on its private key. Then, based on the activation
code or signed result, the mobile application 108 binds, at 338, the mobile application
108, the user's biometric, and the communication device 106 into a token and stores
the token in memory therein (
e.g., in a TEE, etc.). Here, the binding of the data into the token may be, for example,
cryptographically based. Regardless, however, the token is specific to the user 110,
the communication device 106 and mobile application 108, and thus inaccessible and/or
unusable with a different user, device or application.
[0056] What's more, the mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112 may continually check
to determine if any identity data of the user 110 (
e.g., a biometric template, a government ID number, an Aadhaar Card availability, an address,
a phone number, etc.) has changed based on a user interface at the mobile application
108 and information provided thereto. For example, where the user 110 attempts to
change an address or telephone number, or other personal identifying information,
when such a change is detected or identified, the mobile application 108 and/or the
SDK 112 may delete or otherwise remove the token bound into the communication device
106 and employ (or reemploy) the method 300, or one or more parts thereof, to generate
a new token for the mobile application 108, or merely halt use of the mobile application
and employ the method 300, or parts thereof, to recertify and/or re-establish the
digital identity of the user 110 through the IDP 102 and/or the repository 104. Additionally,
or alternatively, the method 500 (below) may be employed to further authenticate the
user 110 with another entity, when such a change in identity data of the user 110
is determined (rather than deleting the token or repeating one or more parts of method
300). It should be appreciated that other factors may cause the method 300 or parts
thereof to be repeated to ensure that the digital identity bound into the communication
device 106 is up to date and accurate for the user 110.
[0057] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary method 400 for use in authenticating a user to a
pay application. The exemplary method 400 is described as implemented in the communication
device 106, the mobile application 108, and the pay application 116 of the system
100. Reference is also made to the computing device 200. However, the methods herein
should not be understood to be limited to the system 100 or the computing device 200,
as the methods may be implemented in other systems and/or computing devices. Likewise,
the systems and the computing devices herein should not be understood to be limited
to the exemplary method 400.
[0058] At 402, the user 110 initially downloads and installs the pay application 116 in
the communication device 106. In this description, it should be understood that the
mobile application 108 is already installed and active in the communication device
106 (with a token bound therein). As shown above, the pay application 116 includes
the SDK 118.
[0059] After installation, the pay application 116, and specifically, the SDK 118, prompts,
at 404, the user 110 to select to login through the mobile application 108. Upon such
a selection, the mobile application 108 is launched and/or otherwise invoked, by the
pay application 116 and/or the user 110. The mobile application 108, and specifically,
the SDK 112 associated therewith, then determines, at 406, whether identity data of
the user 110 (
e.g., a biometric template, a government ID number, an Aadhaar Card availability, an address,
a phone number, etc.) has changed (
e.g., since a prior login, etc.). If a change is determined, the access process for the
pay application 116 ends and/or the communication device 106 (and/or mobile application
108) seeks further authentication of the user 110 (
e.g., from a third party, etc.) prior to proceeding further (
e.g., prior to allowing the user 110 to access the pay application 116, etc.).
[0060] When no changes are determined, the SDK 112 prompts the user 110 for biometric authentication,
at 408. In response, at 410, the user 110 presents a biometric to the communication
device 106 (
e.g., directs the camera input device 208 of the communication device 106 to the face of
the user 110 (and selects an input to indicate the facial image is ready to be captured),
etc.). The mobile application 108 and/or the SDK 112 then capture the biometric, via
the camera input device 208 of the communication device 106, and compare the captured
biometric to a biometric template for the user 110 from the token included therein
and bound to the communication device 106. In doing so, when a match is found or determined,
the mobile application 108 and/or SDK 112 authenticate, at 412, the user 110. And,
when the user 110 is successfully authenticated, the SDK 112 generates and transmits,
at 414, a federated token to the pay application 116. In response, the pay application
116, and specifically the SDK 118, receive the federated token and validate the federated
token, at 416, as being properly signed (
e.g., by the IDP 102, or other entity associated with the IDP 102, or other suitable entity
(
e.g., associated with the mobile application 108 and/or the pay application 116, etc.).
Upon such validation, the user 110 is logged into the pay application 116, at 418,
and registration data for the user 110, the pay application 116, the mobile application
108, etc., is transmitted, at 420, to a backend associated with the pay application
116 (
e.g., a wallet platform, a payment network, etc.), to support payment transactions and
other requests by the pay application 116. The federated token is generally used to
verify the authentication of the user 110, whereby the federated token may be maintained
within the communication device 106 and/or transmitted along with the messaging related
to the payment transaction of other associated requests. In connection with validation
of the federated token, however, the pay application 116 is activated, at 422, for
use in such payment transactions and interactions.
[0061] As a variation (or extension) to the specific description of method 400, the user
110 may further add a payment account and/or card to the pay application 116. To do
so, the user 110 opens and/or accesses the pay application 116 and logs in via the
mobile application 108, through which the user 110 is authenticated (
e.g., through the token for the mobile application 108, via the biometric template and
a facial image of the user as in 408-412, etc.). Thereafter, as above, the SDK 112
determines, at 406, whether identity data of the user 110 (
e.g., a biometric template, a government ID number, an Aadhaar Card availability, an address,
a phone number, etc.) has changed (
e.g., since a prior login, through inputs supplied to a user interface associated with
the pay application 116, etc.). When no changes are determined, the user 110 is prompted,
by the pay application 116, to capture an image of a payment device associated with
the payment account to be added (
e.g., a credit card, etc.). In turn, when the payment device is presented to the communication
device 106 or in response to a user input to the communication device 106, the pay
application 116 and specifically the communication device 106 captures an image of
the desired payment device. In addition, the pay application 116 may optionally prompt
the user 110 to select and/or enter a name (or other identifier) for an issuer of
the user's payment account, in response to which the user 110 provides the requested
information.
[0062] In connection therewith, when a government ID number for the user 110 is already
linked with the identified issuer (as determined by the backend for the pay application
116, for example), the pay application 116 and/or the SDK 118 interacts with a payment
network and/or backend for the pay application 116 to tokenize the identified payment
account into the pay application 116, whereby the payment account is provisioned to
the pay application 116. The payment account is then active in the pay application
116, and useable to fund payment transactions.
[0063] In another variation (or extension) of the method 400, the user 110 may extend authentication
to the pay application 116 for face-to-face (F2F) contactless transactions. To do
so, the user 110 again opens and/or accesses the pay application 116 and logs in via
the mobile application 108. Thereafter, the pay application 116 and/or SDK 118 determines
whether an amount of a transaction performed via the pay application 116 is less than
(or equal to) a defined threshold for the specific payment account, pay application
116, and/or user 110. When the amount is less than (or equal to the threshold, the
user 110 may optionally be authenticated locally by the pay application 116 (
e.g., based on one or more biometrics stored in the communication device 106, etc.), but
not authenticated through the IDP 102.
[0064] However, when the amount of the transaction is more than the defined threshold, the
SDK 118 (or the mobile application 108, the SDK 112, or the pay application 116, etc.)
transmits a message to the repository 104, via the IDP 102, for example, for non-local
authentication of the user 110. The message may include, for example, a biometric
of the user 110 (
e.g., captured by the communication device 106 (and/or the mobile application 108 and/or
the pay application 116), etc.), etc., and may be encrypted by a public key for the
IDP 102, and decrypted by the IDP 102 prior to transmission to the repository 104.
The repository 104, in turn, receives and decrypts the message and compares the biometric
from the message to a biometric reference therein for the user 110. The repository
104 then responds to the communication device 106, via the IDP 102, for example, indicating
whether the captured biometric was matched to a biometric reference therein, or not.
When the repository 104 indicates the match, the pay application 116 is permitted
to proceed in interacting with a merchant (not shown) and/or providing a payment account
credential (
e.g., a token, etc.) to permit the transaction to proceed while being funded by the payment
account provisioned to the pay application 116 (even when in excess of the threshold).
It should be appreciated that beyond a threshold amount, other rules and/or criteria
may be employed to decide between local and non-local authentication of the user 110.
[0065] What's more, the same or similar steps to those above may be employed to make payments
within the pay application 116 or in a related, associated and/or integrated application
where authentication of the user 110 is desired and/or required.
[0066] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method 500 for use in managing access to digital
identities associated with mobile devices. The exemplary method 500 is described as
implemented in the mobile application platform 120, the banking institution 122, the
communication device 106, and the mobile application 108 and/or SDK 112 of the system
100. Reference is also made to the computing device 200. However, the methods herein
should not be understood to be limited to the system 100 or the computing device 200,
as the methods may be implemented in other systems and/or computing devices. Likewise,
the systems and the computing devices herein should not be understood to be limited
to the exemplary method 500.
[0067] In addition in the method 500 (and in the other methods herein), the mobile application
108 is referred to as performing several different operations and/or processes, regardless
of whether the operations and/or processes are performed by the mobile application
108, the SDK 112, or even an operating system of the communication device 106, alone
or in combination. It should therefore be appreciated that such reference is simply
for convenience. As such, it should also be appreciated that any of the same operations
and/or processes may be performed by any one or combination of the mobile application
108, the SDK 112, and operating system of the communication device 106 unless specifically
stated otherwise.
[0068] With that said, at the outset in the method 500, the user 110 launches, at 502, the
mobile application 108 in the communication device 106. Thereafter, the mobile application
108 (alone, in combination with, or by the SDK 112) determines, at 504, whether a
change to the identity data of the user 110 has occurred, in general or subsequently
to a prior access to the mobile application 108. A change in identity data for the
user 110 may include, for example, a change (or attempted change) of the user's address,
a change in phone number, etc. In addition, and whether a change is determined, or
not, the mobile application 108 also prompts, at 506, the user 110 for a biometric
(or other login credential for the mobile application 108 and/or SDK 112). In response,
the user 110 responds by providing a biometric (
e.g., a fingerprint, a facial image, a retina scan, a voice input, etc.) to the communication
device 106, at 508. In turn, the mobile application 108 captures, at 510, the biometric
from the user 110 and the user 110 is authenticated, at 512, by the mobile application
108. The authentication is based on the captured biometric matching (
e.g., within generally accepted thresholds, etc.) a biometric reference (based on generally
accepted biometric comparison techniques).
[0069] When the authentication is successful, access to the mobile application 108 (and
the services and/or functions therein) is granted subject to a change in the digital
identity of the user 110. Specifically, at this point in the method 500, if a change
in identity data for the user 110 is determined at 504, access to the mobile application
108 is held (even if the user 110 is authenticated at 512). And, the mobile application
108 prompts the user 110, at 514, to select or otherwise indicate an institution through
which additional authentication of the user 110 may be performed. In particular in
this embodiment, the mobile application 108 displays an interface (not shown) with
one or multiple institutions available for selection, including the banking institution
122, and a prompt for the user 110 to select from the one or more multiple institutions.
The one or multiple institutions included in the interface may include institutions
previously identified by the user 110 as available for authentication, as described
herein, for example, through one or more registration processes associated with the
mobile application 108, or thereafter. It should be appreciated that the mobile application
108 may solicit an indication of the banking institution in a variety of different
manners (
e.g., through one or more interfaces, through a direct instruction, through other options,
etc.), and that the user 110 may also select or otherwise identify the institution
in a variety of different manners (
e.g., entering a name of the institution, etc.). Regardless of the manner, though, the
user 110 identifies and/or indicates in this example, at 516, the banking institution
122 to the mobile application 108.
[0070] In turn, the mobile application 108 requests, at 518, that the banking institution
122 (
e.g., through a service call such as OpenID Connect, or other similar service, etc.) authenticate
the user 110 (e.g., by directing the user 110 and/or the communication device 106
to a server associated with the banking institution 122 for authentication of the
user 110 and later, by verifying, by the mobile application 108, the authentication
of the user 110 (
e.g., via an authorization code and/or token, etc.), etc.) .
[0071] In response, the banking institution 122 prompts the user 110, at 520, via an interface
at the communication device 106 and/or through the mobile application 108, to provide
login credentials to the user's account associated with the banking institution 122.
The user 110 then provides the login credentials (
e.g., username, password, passcode, biometric, etc.), at 522, and the banking institution
122 authenticates, at 524, the user 110 (alone or in combination with the communication
device 106) based on the provided login credentials.
[0072] When the user 110 is successfully authenticated, the banking institution 122 responds,
at 526, with an indication of a successful authentication of the user 110, for example,
by redirecting the user 110 to the mobile application 108 and/or otherwise indicating
the successful authentication of the user 110 to the mobile application 108. And,
the mobile application 108 then grants the user with access, at 528, to the mobile
application 108, and specifically, the services and/or function provided thereby.
[0073] In this manner, the user 110 is authenticated to the mobile application 108, whereupon
the user 110 is provided with access to the mobile application 108 (and the services
and/or functions offered thereby). More specifically, even in view of the change to
the identity data of the user 110, the user 110 is not required to obtain and subsequently
provide a one-time token (
e.g., passwords, codes, etc.) for and/or in association with accessing the mobile application
108, from the platform 120. Instead, the platform 120 and/or the mobile application
108 is able to rely on the authentication of the user by the third party (
i.e., by the banking institution 122 in the above example of method 500) and thus not seek
further and/or additional direct authentication of the user directly from the user
110 (
i.e., the mobile application 108 makes use of the alternative authentication at the third
party in this implementation in lieu of using a one-time user token or other authentication,
etc.).
[0074] In one or more embodiments, the systems and methods herein provide for verified application
installation instances, verified device integrity, verified application signatures,
controlled and authenticated activation and/or enrollment of applications via one
time use activation codes sent from a trusted source, authentication for an existing
user (
i.e., biometrics) only after the user is verified with previously used authentication credentials,
etc. Further, the systems and methods herein may benefit from distributing certain
data to avoid certain issues and/or vulnerabilities, such as, for example, scalable
attacks (
e.g., as tokens may be bound per communication device, and not in a centralized repository,
etc.). In addition, the systems and methods herein may benefit from personal identifying
information or PII (broadly, data) being secured within the communication device 106
through hardware security (
e.g., via trusted execution environment or TEE, etc.) or, alternatively, through software
cryptography. What's more, in some embodiments, payment credentials or other data
included in the communication device 106 may not be stored in unencrypted manners
(or in the clear). Further, the systems and methods herein may rely on continuous
integrity checks to detect rooting and malware detection in certain embodiments and/or
implementations. Further still, the systems and methods herein may employ strong multi
factor user and/or device authentication schemes (including some of the steps herein),
while also relying on certain analytics (e.g., behavioral analytics, etc.) related
to and/or relevant to authentication of the user 110.
[0075] Again and as previously described, it should be appreciated that the functions described
herein, in some embodiments, may be described in computer executable instructions
stored on a computer readable media, and executable by one or more processors. The
computer readable media is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. By way
of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM,
EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic
storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program
code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a
computer. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable
media.
[0076] It should also be appreciated that one or more aspects of the present disclosure
transform a general-purpose computing device into a special-purpose computing device
when configured to perform the functions, methods, and/or processes described herein.
[0077] As will be appreciated based on the foregoing specification, the above-described
embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented using computer programming or engineering
techniques including computer software, firmware, hardware or any combination or subset
thereof, wherein the technical effect may be achieved by performing at least one or
more of the following operations: (a) capturing, by a mobile communication device,
an image of a physical document, the image including a biometric of a user associated
with the physical document; (b) extracting, by the mobile communication device, the
biometric from the image and converting the biometric to a biometric template; (c)
capturing, by the mobile communication device, via an input device of the mobile communication
device, a biometric of the user; (d) comparing, by the mobile communication device,
the captured biometric of the user to the biometric template; (e) when the captured
biometric of the user and the biometric template match: (i) transmitting, by the mobile
communication device, a message to an identification provider comprising at least
the image of the physical document and the biometric template, whereby the biometric
template is verified against a repository of biometric data; and (ii) binding data
representative of the mobile communication device, a mobile application included in
the mobile communication device, and at least one of the biometric template and the
captured biometric of the user into a token, in response to a signed result indicative
of a verification of the biometric template, thereby enabling the mobile application
to provide a digital identity associated with the user to one or more relying parties
through use of the token; (f) checking, by the mobile communication device, an integrity
of the image of the physical document prior to converting the extracted biometric
to a biometric template (g) generating, by the mobile communication device, a public-private
key pair and transmitting a public key of the public-private key pair to the identification
provider (h) receiving a message from the identification provider including the signed
result; (i) decrypting the message based on a private key of the public-private key
pair; and (j) encrypting the message to the identification provider based on a public
key of the identification provider, prior to transmitting the message to the identification
provider.
[0078] As will be appreciated based on the foregoing specification, the above-described
embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented using computer programming or engineering
techniques including computer software, firmware, hardware or any combination or subset
thereof, wherein the technical effect may be achieved by performing at least one or
more of the following operations: (a) determining, by a mobile communication device,
that identity data of a user is changed; (b) prompting, by the mobile communication
device, the user to identify a third party separate from the mobile communication
device to authenticate the user, wherein the user is associated with an account of
the third party and login credentials associated with the account; (c) requesting
the third party to authenticate the user; (d) granting, by the mobile communication
device, access to one or more services and/or functions of a mobile application installed
at the mobile communication device, when the third party responds with an indication
of a successful authentication, thereby relying on authentication of the user by the
third party in order to grant access to the one or more services and/or functions
of the mobile application installed at the mobile communication device; (e) soliciting,
by the mobile communication device, a biometric from the user; (f) capturing, by the
mobile communication device, the biometric from the user; and (g) authenticating the
user against a biometric template stored at the mobile communication device, based
on the captured biometric, prior to granting access to the one or more services and/or
functions of the mobile application.
[0079] Exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and
will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific
details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods,
to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will
be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed,
that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither
should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments,
well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are
not described in detail.
[0080] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary
embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular
forms "a," "an," and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "including,"
and "having," are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features,
integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the
presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,
components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described
herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular
order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance.
It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
[0081] When a feature is referred to as being "on," "engaged to," "connected to," "coupled
to," "associated with," "included with," or "in communication with" another feature,
it may be directly on, engaged, connected, coupled, associated, included, or in communication
to or with the other feature, or intervening features may be present. As used herein,
the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated
listed items.
[0082] Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various
features, these features should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be
only used to distinguish one feature from another. Terms such as "first," "second,"
and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless
clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first feature discussed herein could be
termed a second feature without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
[0083] The foregoing description of exemplary embodiments has been provided for purposes
of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the
disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally
not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable
and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described.
The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as
a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included
within the scope of the disclosure.